


By The Sea

by infectedscrew



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Angst, F/F, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-06-06 21:58:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6771868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infectedscrew/pseuds/infectedscrew
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes the best way to let go is to leave it all behind.</p><p>Alt. Isabela convinces Hawke to join her on the sea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	By The Sea

The large canopy hanging over her head felt like it was two inches away and weighed about a thousand pounds. Any moment the fabric was going to crash down on top of her and smother her. Not even a single moment passed in which she didn’t pray for it to happen. In fact her eyes narrowed furious that the canopy was taking it’s damn time.

“Are you trying set the canopy on fire, love?”

“Only if it’ll take me with,” she spat.

Despite the severity of the statement, the woman next her laughed, the sound rich and deep. A calloused, tanned hand crossed over her chest to her neck. The tips were surprisingly soft against her skin. The very slight pressure brought a wave of emotion that crushed her with unexpected force.

“Oh no! Don’t do that,” Isabela cooed, her tongue clicking slightly. “Sweet bird, don’t. You’re here with me.”

“I want to be anywhere else,” she breathed out, fists clenched in the tangled sheets. She wished she could say that the bed had been ruined by lewd activities but she couldn’t even claim that. Instead it had been days of tortured sadness and hatred that had her trapped in her own house and head.

Silence dropped over the pair. The pressure disappeared for a moment and the bed shifted under Isabela’s weight. A second of panic crossed over Hawke. Clearly the pirate had reached her limit and needed to break away. She had been tying the woman down for too long and now she was going to be left alone with her thoughts.

“Come with me to the sea, Hawke,” Isabela murmured, leaning over her. For once her expression was utterly sincere, not a trace of her mocking amusement.

Hawke blinked, not expecting those words. “What..?”

“There is nothing more liberating than the sea.” Gently, Isabela tugged Hawke into a sitting position, tenderly pushing the messy locks out of her pale face. “Think of it, you can get away from this horrid city. We can stay on the water and you can be free, for just a moment.”

Hawke looked around her room, at the piles of books and clothes, the dying fire and the heap of condolencses dropped on the desk haphazardly. She’d only gone through a few of them, only the ones that mattered. The awkward scrawl from Fenris, Varric’s sweet, chilling but comforting turn of phrase, Merrill’s package of bizarre flowers and a rambling note about Dalish mourning traditions and Anders’ personal lithium remedy with a ranting note that she’d only managed read half-through. Aveline had personally visited her with gruff words and brief embrace before she’d hurried out, face as red as her hair.

“I can’t leave,” she whispered.

Isabela frowned. “No, you need to,” she replied, dragging Hawke close. “You need to get out, smell fresh air that isn’t filled with piss and blood.”

“Says the pirate,” Hawke snorted.

“Hey, salty air covers all that up nicely. Look at me,” she added when Hawke started to pull away again.

The pirate waited until the mage met her eyes, the blue dulled by exhaustion. Her full lips pulled into a soft smile.

“Think of it, love. You and me, under the open stars, listening to the waves and the birds,” she started quietly, tracing her fingers over exposed skin. “You can get away with your thoughts and find yourself properly. You don’t have to answer to anyone.”

“Just you.”

“Not at all!”

Hawke pondered the woman before her for a long moment. She nodded, “tell me more.”

Isabela’s smile widened.


End file.
